FreitasPCM wrote:
Rui Costa turned into a beast for GT's.
Thanks! Its nice to see him do well like that, although unfortunately he wont have the Rainbows like irl. He should be a great leader for Lampre tho. Scarponi has weakened in my save and Costa has 80 Hills and is also one of the best climbers so Lampre may finally be successful in a GT for the first time in a couple years.
I think I'm finally about finished with editing! I've done probably a few surprising things, but I think it will make it more fun! I brought the WT back down to 18 teams instead of 19 and I had trouble deciding what to do with Vacansoleil and Euskaltel since I wanted to somewhat replicate real life where both teams wont be riding in the World Tour!
As for the transfers due to the size of the database, I've probably overlooked a handful of semi-unrealistic transfers, however I've gone through each and every team, and fixed the glaring ones.
@ Admir - Thanks. Neither can I. I really want to push for Pro Conti. Im really getting bored of all the races. Not for the reason you might think, but just because the scenery isn't that great on the cdx stages.
@ all - I've now completed the transfers entirely and will start posting all the new squads over the course of probably the next couple days (less in depth on PT, since I dont think I will come up against them often).
So stay tuned there will be atleast one squad update today to look forward to!
AG2R is coming off a very poor season. They narrowly espcaped relegation, and two of their major stars have left the team in John Gadret and Carlos Betancur! Not much in terms of additions to the team, but Paolini will give the team some depth and experience for the one day classics. Bardet will really need take a step up this year, but if last year is anything to go by, this year wont be very much fun for the team, as they will likely be fighting to avoid relegation.
Prediction (WT): 15th - 18th
Astana Cycling Team
Astana is a team with a mix of everything! Nibali will remain the captain for the Grand Tour's and will likely be a major player in this years Giro. Guardini has developed into a top sprinter and should add to Astana's win tally this year! Overall the team has a lot of great Time Trialers and should could be a strong favourite in any Team Time Trial they participate in! Aru and Lutsenko remain their brightest talents, and Aru looks ready to lead his own races now, while Lutsenko still needs a bit of polishing by the looks of it, but with those two, the team will be set for the future!
Prediction (WT): 6th - 9th
Belkin Cycling Team
The biggest addition to the Belkin squad is Wegmann who will give the team a very formidable team for the classics. Boom, Nordhaug, Gesink, Slagter, Mollema and Martens as well as the newly added Wegmann give the team a whole lot of depth and almost a guaranteed good result at atleast one classic, which means big points. Bos and Renshaw will continue to lead the sprints and should give the team a few results, although neither will be able to contest with some of the other top sprinters. Overall the team looks really solid and should finish somewhere comfortably in the middle of the pack!
Prediction (WT): 8th - 12th
BMC Racing Team
BMC is often known for spending loads on new big name riders in the transfer period and then having the team disappoint the following season, so this year, they decided to only bring in some cheap riders in Napolitiano and Gavazzi who will add to the sprinting depth in the team! Apart from that, only a few talents were brought in! The loss of Gilbert will be massive, but the team still has a solid cobbles team, and Phinney looks better than ever! I expect the team to score well during the months of March, April and May but for Grand Tours, Van Garderen looks a little weak to be challenging for more than a Top 10.
Prediction (WT): 10th - 14th
Cannondale Pro Cycling Team
Peter Sagan has blown up into the hottest thing in cycling right now, and rightly so, being a top sprinter, as well as being very strong on the hills! Not only that, but he can hold his own on cobblestones as well, which makes him extremely versatile! With Basso clearly in the twilight of his career, Carlos Betancur was brought in and should be able to grab the team some good results in Stage Races, something that was a weak point of theirs last year. Apart from Basso, Viviani, Moser, Sagan and Betancur though, the team looks really weak so those riders have the whole team on their shoulders. However the team has also added 3 huge talents to the team in Lawson Craddock, Mohoric, and Villela who will all likely become stars in the cycling world! Look for this team to be on the rise in a year or two if they can keep hold of those guys!
Prediction (WT): 8th - 14th
Team Europcar
Like usual the team is led by Thomas Voeckler! Turgot, Gaudin, Rolland and Coquard will also be strong riders for the team, but the loss of Arashiro may have more of an impact than some think! He was a strong sprinter and good all around rider! Berhane has improved into one of the strongest African riders right now and should grab a few results as well this year! The team is pretty weak though and I could see them relegating if they cant get any outstanding results!
Prediction (WT): 16th - 18thEdited by valverde321 on 19-11-2013 17:18
You could write that this is PART1 , just for info. Really nice presentation of teams, i thought of doing something like this, but it was just too long for me.
Btw, where are all of these comments from start of this story? I mean, in last few pages, amount of comments decreased (or i made mistake?).
admirschleck wrote:
You could write that this is PART1 , just for info. Really nice presentation of teams, i thought of doing something like this, but it was just too long for me.
Btw, where are all of these comments from start of this story? I mean, in last few pages, amount of comments decreased (or i made mistake?).
Okay thanks, good idea! Yeah, this might take a bit. Im planning on doing the major CT teams as well!
I have noticed that too! I have no idea why I've been getting less comments lately, because I fed off of those awesome comments at the beginning, but I dont really think there is much I can do! Maybe the story isn't as interesting or something or its because it was most active during the summer so I could post when more of the Europeans would be on (and thus have a higher chance of them seeing a new update) but its not like this is going to stop me. Part of it, is probably because 2 or 3 of my Czech followers (Pavuk and Valor) seem to have gone inactive.
Im really grateful that you are still consistently commenting, so thank you Admir!
sutty68 wrote:
Cannondale certainly look stronger than ever
Yeah! I'm quietly looking forward to what they can do this year! In the coming years I could see them becoming the top WT team too with such a strong nucleus of young riders. Thanks!
I'm following, too Probably should be more active with comments here and there, but at least for last week, i did have some reasons for that "inactivity" Keep the previews coming, I've always been a fan of your detailed season previews!
tsmoha wrote:
I'm following, too Probably should be more active with comments here and there, but at least for last week, i did have some reasons for that "inactivity" Keep the previews coming, I've always been a fan of your detailed season previews!
Its okay. You've been good for comments! Its just been in the past 3 or so pages where Im getting significantly less comments. You are only one member anyway and I dont expect everyone to be commenting on each and every update, but as a collective I feel like I've lost viewers so I'm not sure if thats my fault or not.
Thanks! I'll be sure to keep them coming! Trying to get one more up tonight, but Im also trying to add some music/mixtapes to my phone and make a playlist for the gym.
I'm still here, too. I've been less inactive commenting but still reading.
Maybe you did lose some followers, but it's midway November, cycling season well behind us, I guess that's got a big influence on a lot of members!
But you always have a lot more people following than commenting, don't forget that
Go on valv, I'm still waiting for some good results for the team gained by Poljanski! and of course it will be great if more Polish riders join your team!
@ SzYnA - Thanks! I'm really excited about him especially. He could be a great rider for us!
World Tour Teams Part 2/3
Francais de Jeux
The long running French team head into the season with the loss of Nacer Bouhanni and its a massive blow to the teams chances! They are left with basically just Demare who will be a top points scoring rider for the team! Pinot has been a bit disappointing and still doesn't quite look like the GT contender that the French had been hoping for but he should be FDJ's top climber for the year! As for the teams future, the two real talents are Pinot and Demare, but despite them the team still looks really weak.
Prediction (WT): 16th - 18th
Garmin Cycling Team
Garmin will again be lead by its stars, Hesjedal, Farrar and Martin and the core of the team remains the same! Rohan Dennis looks like a great all-rounder and should be a big part of the future, while the above mentioned names begin to get older. This could be the last year or two for someone like Hesjedal and as we know Farrar's form has been very poor the last few years. Janier Acevedo while not a young addition, is still a nice add for the mountains! He's a pure climber and has done well in North America before! Beside him, the team has added some Dutch youngsters like Ligthart, Asselman and Van Baarle. The teams Achilles rests on how well the team performs in the cobbled classics.
Prediction (WT): 8th - 10th
Katusha
Purito is still the top rider on the team, and he has a lot of talented Spaniards around him, but the team is Russian and they've got a fair bit of talented russians on the team too! Igantiev, Trofimov, and Kolobnev to name a few! The team is well built for climbing and the hope is probably to podium atleast one Grand Tour! If that should fail, they always have Alexander Kristoff a very strong sprinter, who funnily enough is also quite a good climber as far as a sprinter is concerned. The team has no real young talent, but it has a few feeder teams in the Conti ranks it can pick from, saving all the quality riders for the World Tour team!
Prediction (WT): 4th - 6th
Lampre - Merida
Led by their newest addition, Rui Costa, Lampre has been given new life to a once strong team with Cunego and Ballan! Only Cunego remains on the team now, and he isn't the rider he used to be! Costa is similar to the style Cunego was in his best years and should give the team a real shot at winning some monuments! Pozzato is a strong cobbler and Modolo is a strong addition in an area they were pretty weak, sprinting. If you were to rate their off season additions, I'd guess they would be near the top. They've tried to cover their weaknesses and have added to their strongest point! In terms of talents, they have Wackermann and Polanc who have joined and both are touted to be big things in the future! You can't forget Ulissi and Palini who are both still 24 years old and already as good as they are! This team really looks like they are on the up!
Prediction (WT): 4th - 8th
Lotto - Belisol
The 3-Pronged attack of Vanendert, Van den Broeck and Greipel remain while the addtion of Gallopin gives the team a whole lot of depth. De Bie is a great addition to the team as he is a great looking talent! The team is full of Belgians and a lot of them are quite good! In a team that used to be so dominant at everything but climbing, its a bit strange to see the team now being so strong at climbing and as far as World Tour standards go, pretty weak at everything else!
Prediction (WT): 7th - 10th
Movistar
What a team!
Valverde and Quintana lead the team again! If thats not a guarantee of atleast one GT podium, I dont know what is! As said, both will be looking for atleast a podium, but theres a chance that either could also win a Grand Tour this year! They are both very strong riders! Sanchez joins due to Euskaltel's disbanding and should give the team some great experience. Visconti is another one day specialist and Anton and Malori are also great additions! Malori really boosts the teams TT abilities and Anton brings in a lot of Classics depth! Gadret is another new face, and is the only Frenchman, but he should be great support! Lobato and Sutterlin are also new, and both cover areas the team is weaker! Sutterlin is meant to be the next great Time trialer, with a hint of climbing ability, think Tony Martin, while Lobato really jumped onto the scene as maybe the top Spanish (Basque) Sprinter in the world right now, and still fairly young! If the team has one weakness it is Cobblestones, but should there be none, expect this team to be anywhere and everywhere!
NetApp is instantly improved into one of the better teams in the peloton with the addition of Marcel Kittel who has fled Argos Shimano due to their relegation! Bouhanni is another new rider and should be a huge boost in depth on the flat stages. On the climbs the team have two strong men, Machado and Konig who are both strong for the World Tour, however neither are stars and would be unlikely for them to win any major races. The team looks really strong on the flat and should also be strong against the clock! In terms of climbers they have no really strong riders, and not much depth either.
Prediction (WT) 10th - 14th
Omega Pharma Quick Step
The biggest change in the squad is the addition of Rigoberto Uran who was looking for his own chance to lead at the Tour de France and he should get that opportunity with this team! Petacchi also joins, wanting to lead out Cavendish in his twilight, while they have a hurdle to overcome as it seems Marcel Kittel is the new #1 sprinter in the world! Mark will want to prove the doubters wrong this year! The future looks bright with the team too! Two future stars have joined from their development Etixx, Alaphilippe and Vakoc.
Prediction (WT) 5th - 9th
Orica - GreenEDGE
Orica are heading into the new season with largely the same squad! Chaves is the marque signing and gives the team a climber! He's still one for the future, speaking of which, Caleb Ewan who is also expected to be a top sprinter in the years to come! I dont see the team being all that strong this year, but Im sure all the Australian fans are hoping they can stay in the top division!
Prediction (WT) 13th - 18th
Team Saxo Bank
Saxo is another team with only minor differences to the previous years squad! The one major change is Kwiatkowski who is probably going to make the team the most followed team in Poland, but aside from that he will be great for the one day races the one place they probably needed the most help in, that was until Daniele Bennati left the team! With almost no WT capable sprinters the team is taking a gamble, but hopefully it will pay off with some great uphill results!
Prediction (WT) 13th - 15th
Team Sky
Speaking of Bennati, here he is in his new team, Sky! Other new additions include Nieve, Zabriskie, Earle and Sebastien Henao. Sky should be the top team again this year, but its not a given and it largely depends on Chris Froome. The team has immense depth in climbers and a strong supporting cast of sprinters and classic specialists.
Prediction (WT) 1st - 3rd
Trek Factory Racing
As previously mentioned, Argos have been relegated and John Degenkolb felt he was too good for the Continental division, so a move to Trek was the solution for him! He will be a huge boost to the teams point totals, as I'm fairly sure he will score quite a bit for them in the sprints Schleck and Hermans lead the team in the hills and newcomer Arredondo will probably be the top climber! Overall the team looks strong, lead by Cancellara and I think they will be fairly secure somewhere in the middle of the pack!
Prediction (WT) 7th - 12th
@ all - thats finally it for the WT teams! Sorry for taking a while to get the 3rd installment. I've been really busy the past few days.
AG2R La Mondiale
Astana Cycling Team
Belkin Cycling Team
BMC Racing Team
and of course it will be great if more Polish riders join your team!
Katusha
Lampre - Merida
Lotto - Belisol
Movistar
Team NetApp Endura
Orica - GreenEDGE
Team Saxo Bank
Team Sky
